Melbourne Heart are the best team in the league.

By Patrick Hargreaves / Roar Guru

Melbourne Heart are the best* team – to watch – in the A-League.

Firstly, they’ve conceded 21 goals so far – that means the opposition nearly score two goals a game.

Usually this means Melbourne Heart have either given away a penalty (penalties are exciting!), had a defender sent off, or had a defender masquerade as an amateur footballer.

Unless they’re amateur footballers masquerading as professionals.

You don’t get that kind of inception at other clubs.

Plus, Melbourne usually score a goal (nine in 11 games), which means there’s always a chance of a comeback and the ‘Is this the day?’ build up.

Invariably, Heart get an equaliser and then attack with not a hint of tactic, desperately trying to score a winner.

Sure the first 75 minutes of Heart games are ad hoc mediocre idiosyncrasies of a team with no direction.

But the last 15 minutes always leave you going ‘How did Mifsud miss that?’, your head, so far buried in your hands that you’ve forgotten the game was still on, only to catch a glance of a misguided back pass that lets the opposition in once again.

Sure Brisbane and Victory have style and class, the Wanderers get results, and Sydney have Alessandro Del Piero, but none of the aforementioned clubs drag you through a rainbow of emotions so unique like Melbourne Heart do.

It’s also somewhat flattering, if Harry Kewell can do that** and have a UEFA Champions League winners medal, to think how far away am I from a football contract.

It’s pretty clear, on this comprehensive list of the best games of the A League season so far, Melbourne Heart feature four times.

1. Adelaide v Melbourne Victory, 2-2
A game of poor refereeing, delightful South Americans and traditional Adelaide self implosion.

2. Melbourne Heart v Adelaide, 2-2
“Did we sign Totti!?” Migliorini brings down Galekovic’s ego in European style.

3. Melbourne Heart v Western Sydney, 1-1
WSW were such strong favourites, that when the Heart didn’t lose people praised their tactics.

4. Sydney v Melbourne Heart, 2-1
Kewell steps up with a chance to equalise, he walks up, looks at the ball, and kicks it in anger in remembrance of signing for Galatasaray. ‘Maltese Messi’ gets on the scoreboard too, as Fox Sports have a field day as they talk about a man more talented than them make a mistake.

5. Melbourne Heart v Central Coast, 2-2
Media have pun field day as Melbourne have their hearts broken.

And when you’re not treating yourself by watching them play, you can always play ‘Pick the round Aloisi gets fired’.

Sounds easy, because your first response is usually “by the end of next round he’ll be in the Centrelink line” but it’s either his Armani or his ’05 spot kick, and it’s Round 11 and he’s still there.

I’m going to stick my neck out and say the last round he’ll grace the grass with his immaculate suit will be Round 12, after they lose to Wellington in a game of half chances and expletives yelled by spectators.

Sure, they haven’t won in a long, long time, their tactics are questionable to say the least, they play in front of not many people, they’re named after a part of the anatomy, their best player rarely plays and they couldn’t score in an illegal Fitzroy brothel.

However, in terms of making football interesting, they’re a cut above the entire league.

*When not considering all the main Key Performance Indicators
**Includes, but is not limited to, missing a simple chance, berating a teenage teammate for not passing to him, getting paid to be injured.

The Crowd Says:

2013-12-25T15:11:21+00:00

Clayts

Guest


Wasn't that Reds Heart game 3-3?

2013-12-25T08:39:04+00:00

Stevo

Guest


Cheers PH, your piece puts into perspective what many of us have been going through. Why this bunch of clowns bought an A-league licence, or were given it by FFA, astounds me given how little football experience thay have and their seeming lack of interest in winning silverware. The JA appointment shows how inept they are. Why appoint a bloke in a suit with no prior senior coaching experience????? LOL LOL the chickens have come home to roost. ALOISI OUT now!!!

2013-12-24T11:29:41+00:00

Realfootball

Guest


Great piece, Patrick. Thoroughly and not very kindly enjoyed it.

AUTHOR

2013-12-24T08:09:16+00:00

Patrick Hargreaves

Roar Guru


I think Heart have recently sold to the same bloke who owns the storm. I think this deal has been going on a while, so the board may not want to sack a coach and leave the new board with a new coach on a new contract. once the new board come, I'd expect Aloisi to be let go.

2013-12-24T07:52:47+00:00

Bela Guttman

Guest


Alois has done a brilliant job of devolving the team, talking a possession based team full of young exciting players granted to him by JVS and then casting his magic coaching techniques to turn a bunch of old crocks, once good enough for international call up, Bundesliga, EPL or Eredivise, and training them all to devolve into a shabby pub team. As you've identified the absence of tactics is important here as is filling the list with hand selected cheap players with long-term injury and playing those that do make it onto the pitch out of position. Mercifully the young players have avoided devolution as JA has avoided picking any of them. The Board are mightily pleased as it delivers on their mediocrity policy and it really shows how far Mehmet could have taken Victory if the club had given him as much time as Heart management have given Aloisi.

2013-12-24T03:11:11+00:00

Doc

Roar Rookie


Many thanks for enlightening my morning. This is the greatest example of authorship seen on this forum in a long time.

2013-12-24T01:58:35+00:00

MK

Guest


Thank you The Roar for a different take on Heart this week, it was starting to get a bit stale :) Also: We are top of the league* *if you start counting from the bottom

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